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AN: Here it is. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter Five: Legion's Fall
"Throw them into perilous ground, and they will survive; plunge them into Death Ground, and they will live." -Sun Tzu, the Art of War (The Nine Kinds of Ground), Death Ground Theory
Legion Encampment…
Sergeant George Wilter scanned the open ground around the camp, bored of being assigned to watch duty. It was considered a rather mundane task by the officers, but the General had insisted that an officer be stationed with those on duty. Apparently, the sentries needed someone to "take charge" in times of peril. He snorted in disdain. All they had to do was report if there were hostile forces approaching.
He lazily shifted his sights to the sky, watching a flock of birds fly overhead. Odd, there are certainly a lot of birds flying away from the forest today. On the horizon, the outline of four slow-moving flyers came into sight. George slit his eyes suspiciously at the outlined figures, trying to determine what the beasts were. Suddenly, the four unidentified flying objects dived, accelerating their speed by taking advantage of gravity. In mere seconds, they were close enough to be discerned. And the sergeant didn't like what he saw heading for him. Dragons! The single word paralyzed him with fear. The mammoth flyers were very resilient and resistant to attacks. They hadn't expected the Imperium to unleash the rampaging creatures on them.
Snapping himself out of shock, he began shouting orders to his fellow watchers. "Take cover! Dragons approaching! Quickly, spread the word!" A few sentries obeyed instantly, running through the camp to repeat the message to everyone in earshot. Several others were, unfortunately, hesitating to act. That moment cost them their lives as the dragons sprayed them with fire fifty meters away.
A few seconds passed before George felt the dragons pass over his position. He sneaked a look nervously, as if the dragons might come back and eat him alive. The beasts flew further into the camp, sending out small jets of flame occasionally, targeting large clusters of tents and supplies rather than people. Suddenly, the dragons stopped their relentless assault, opting to hover above the camp.
The momentary pause in the assault was all the legion needed to retaliate. Several arches had hastily stringed their bows and launched a barrage of steel-tipped arrows, while the magically trained warriors blasted them with stunners. The dragons roared in defiance, before enveloping a large tent with fire, turning everything in its vicinity into a crisp. With that final act of aggression, the dragons retreated back into the forest. Wilter sighed heavily.
The dragons could have continued on to destroy half the camp; there was no doubt about it. However, it would cost the lives of the four dragons to do so. They had been lucky this time. Whoever was leading them obviously valued the dragons and didn't want any dying soon.
"Keep your bows handy men. If those dragons come back, I want them to be flying through a blizzard of arrows. And for God's sake, someone put that fire out." Wilter barked. The fire had already punched a hole in the barricade around the camp, one that was growing wider with every second that passed.
The men around him started shouting warnings and pointing their finger at the forest. From the corner of his eye, Wilter saw something move in the forest. He turned his face to get a better of the situation. This day just keeps getting better and better. First the Command Tent gets blown up by the dragons, probably killing the Captain and his aides, now we have to face an army without leadership. He thought bitterly, unsheathing his sword.
A magically amplified voice began speaking, the words projected throughout the camp. "Legionnaires, the King of Ionos has returned! Long Live the King! The King will speak to his subjects."
There was a pause before the King started to speak. "Men of the Legion, your loyalty to General Hampshire is commendable, but your loyalty to your sovereign precedes that. Any man who surrenders will be granted leniency and be given the opportunity to join the Army again, with full backing from the Crown. Swear loyalty to your rightful King, and you will be spared." The speaker finished ominously.
Minutes passed in eerie silence as the Legionnaires were given the time to think over the benefits of surrender. Many were seriously considering defecting to the enemy, given such advantageous terms offered to them. It was a rare opportunity for redemption. Wilter himself considered it briefly.
Suddenly, a single stream of red light shot through the air. Battle cries could be heard from the four sides of the camp. The sound of rolling thunder filled the air, as horsemen began charging at the structurally questionable barricade. Before the sergeant could give the command to open fire, they found themselves under a hail of arrows. In the span of a few minutes, the Legion's camp had been breached on multiple points. Within the hour, it had been ransacked and burned to the ground.
Harry…
The King watched as his men closed in on the encampment. The legionnaires seemed to be in disarray, unsuccessfully trying to organize some sort of defensive plan against the oncoming force. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't expected to be surrounded or be attacked by cavalry. Slowly, but surely, his men made their way through the camp, more and more men surrendering with every inch claimed.
"So Donovan, explain to me why I needed to make that announcement instead of just assaulting them?" Harry asked.
"The Legion is a well-trained force. I had thought you wanted to try to recruit them first, before killing them off. Added to that, it would have been unwise not to let them a way out. A Chinese military strategist, Sun Tzu was his name, once said that placing men on Death Ground would ensure that they would fight more viciously. Had we done so, we would have more casualties. The announcement let them know they had a way out." Donovan replied.
Harry raised a brow at him questioningly; as if to ask, 'And you know this why?'. "Commander Sinther made sure I understood what his strategy was before he even allowed me to oversee it."
"And the Dragons? What were they supposed to achieve?"
"They were to eliminate the leadership of the Legion to create confusion. Without a leader, the men would not be rallied by a speech of some sort and nobody would know who had the final say in things. The more befuddled they are the better for us." Donovan explained.
Harry nodded in understanding and returned his attention to the Legion. "Once we're done here, tell Felix to ride ahead and reinforce Sinther. I worry he might not be fairing too well."
Donovan grinned. "I wouldn't worry too much sire. The Commandant knows what he's doing. Besides, the ships ought to arrive there soon." Harry stayed silent, opting to continue observing the battle taking place.
1 hour later, Sinther…
The Commandant watched impassively as Hampshire led his men outside the city to meet his force. It had taken a few hours, but his patience had paid off. The General of the Legion had made the first move by marching out of the city, away from their fortifications. They were outside, without any walls to hide behind when the cannons started firing.
Under normal circumstances, Sinther might have chosen to attack instead, using the artillery support from the ships to obliterate the fortifications and storm the city, albeit with heavy losses. But his primary objective was not to defeat the enemy, only to stall them for however long as possible. Crushing them was only a bonus. He needed to buy the King enough time to defeat the Legionary encampment without interruption from this smaller, albeit more experienced troops.
This was more of a public relations act than anything else. For the people to continue believing Harry was the hope that they had been praying for all these years, the King who would herald the Golden Age, they needed to see a sign of his competence. Putting down a rebellion by leading an army himself would work spectacularly in that aspect. Especially since this one had been active for so long.
If this plan worked, the fanatical movement taking place in Ionos would reach near epic proportions. Movements like these would either keep moving forward, or roll up and collapse on itself. It could never stay still for too long. And this was the act that would push the movement forward. That was why Sinther was taking great troubles to uphold Harry's image. A fanatical country behind the King would be a force to reckon with. It would certainly help with the new negotiations to take place with Azkaban, China and Japan. It might just be the advantage they needed to get the upper hand in the dealings.
"Sir, Cavalry have been seen approaching from the north. They are headed straight towards General Hampshire's force." A sergeant informed Sinther, shaking him out of his musings.
"Very well, we'll meet the General on the field then. We'll hit them with the cavalry and scatter them. We break their power here, and this battle will be over."
"…The state of Ionos' lack of public training in magical disciplines was partially solved during the Vacuus a Statraps (See Also: Period without Kings) by the passing down of knowledge within families. In this way, many people of Ionos were trained in magical fields, more commonly in battle magic as many families had members which served in the military during the reign of King Kendrick Peverell; of which magical training was imposed on all recruits. However, a negative result of this was the masses lack of general knowledge in magic…"
-excerpt from: A different look at History, Chapter 5, by: Andrew Simmons
"…The Last Legion was one of five employed during the time of King Kendrick Peverell. Three years before the King died, he was engaged in a (suicidal) war against Azkaban (i.e. the Channel Kingdom) and Britain due to an unknown cause (some say he was mad) (see also: Grindelwald Wars, subsection: Disbanding of the English-Ionos Alliance). The Legions were haphazardly used, and in the ensuing years, were systematically wiped out by Azkabanian forces. The war ended with the King's death and the Imperium Council moved quickly to end hostilities. The peace treaty made imposed very harsh terms against Ionos, such as the disbandment of their Aerial Dragon Fleet and the colonization of the Island of Marporre by Azkaban.
"The remnants of the Legions from the war banded under the last surviving general, Anthony Hampshire, to form what is now known today as the "the Last Legion". The General, and the Legion by extension, held a grudge against the King for sending them off to what they believed was their death, given the frequency of times they were ordered by the King to move them into Death Ground situations. After the war, the Legion resisted the Imperium's efforts to subjugate them, and openly revolted by taking the island of Prodimus hostage. They remained in control of the island until King Harry Potter(see also: Reformist, Empire Builder, Golden Age Leader) drove the Legion to submission after fifty year's of insubordination through the effective use of superior Imperium assets and pardoning of crimes. With the use of the latter, nearly half of the legion defected…"
-excerpt from: Ionos: from Backwater State to World Superpower, Chapter 4: First Acts, a documentation compiled by Hermione Granger…
"…Most Autonomous States based in Europe suffered a huge loss of power during the European Century War (ECW, AKA Grindelwald Wars). The traditional power in the monarchs of the Autonomous States shifted towards the Oligarchies' Elected Head of State in the Major countries (i.e. England, France, Germany, the Iberian Alliance, etc.). This was attributed to their more stable, flexible system of election during and after the wars. The unifying power of the Thrones of the States was broken when several Royal Families of these places were eliminated. Few families survived the purging of Monarchy by Grindelwald and the Mainstates (i.e. Countries with the Oligarchy System).
"The initial assassination of the Rhineland Royal Family sparked several clashes between the AS (Autonomous States) and the Mainstates. The Mainstates sought to break the hold of the AS over their lands so they could be colonized or integrated. Of course, Several AS and Mainstates fought against their respective sides such as the Turkish Empire and the Russian Federation which were staunchly against the idea of Regicide. Most AS that fought with the Mainstates found themselves backstabbed by the end of the war with their royal families subsequently hunted down.
"This war caused the severe split of friendship between the AS and Mainstates with few notable exceptions in Europe. Fortunately, most of the AS had several hidden lines of succession to their thrones, foiling the plans of the Mainstates. These lines usually had preexisting requirements that had to be met before the next ruler could be crowned, preventing most known lines from being coroneted immediately. Other states, such as Ionos, Azkaban, and Burgundy, had their records lost as the years progressed, making it difficult to track down their successors to the throne. It is interesting to know that Ionos was the last country to fall during the war…"
-excerpt from: Ionos: from Backwater State to World Superpower, Chapter 1: A brief introduction, a documentation compiled by Hermione Granger…
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